Torre Civica of Forli, civic clock tower in Forlì, Italy
The Torre Civica of Forlì is a brick clock tower rising 65 metres behind the Palazzo Comunale in the city centre. It stands on the visible remains of a Roman watchtower, and its summit holds a clock documented since the 14th century. The present structure was built in 1975–1976 on the site of the tower blown up on 9 November 1944.
The tower stands on the ruins of a Roman watchtower built on the banks of the Montone, which then ran through today's city centre; remains of the Roman building and later phases are visible at its base. It grew into the city's symbol when Forlì became a free commune between the 9th and 10th centuries. In 1818 structural collapses at the base led the commune to entrust engineer Andrea Zoli with repairs; by 1822 he had strengthened the tower and raised it by 16 Forlì feet to 65 m. German troops mined it at 1:45 on 9 November 1944, and the fall destroyed the theatre below. A public subscription in the early 1970s funded the rebuild, begun in 1975 and finished in 1976.
The tower's other names — torre comunale, torre del pubblico, torre dell'orologio — record its civic and clock-keeping roles. Medieval chronicles describe the severed heads of executed men fixed on a pike at the top as a warning, visible from every part of the city; the skull of Giovanni Antonio Feo, an assassin of Giacomo Feo, stayed there from 1495 until a storm threw it down in 1498.
The tower is visible from outside and can be viewed from Piazza Saffi, where cafes and small markets invite visitors to linger in the area. It is not possible to climb the tower today, but walking around it allows you to observe the architectural details and appreciate its construction up close.
The 1944 explosion that brought down the tower also destroyed the theatre beneath it, which was never rebuilt. The present tower, 65 m tall, was paid for by a public subscription launched in the early 1970s; work ran from 1975 to 1976. At its base, visible remains of the Roman watchtower and later phases survive.
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